The Information Super-Frog

29 August 2005: President George W. Bush takes a break from his vacation to fly out to Phoenix for the birthday of his pal Senator John McCain.


Do you remember where you were, what you were doing, how you felt on August 29th 2005? If you live in a section of the USA about the size of Britain, stretching from the western Florida Panhandle to past Grand Isle Louisiana and a long bit inland, you probably remember it all too well.

If you lived in other parts of the country, you may have noticed something about it on the news. Hurricane Katrina.



( Bush & McCain FAILED to defend America )

Handful of links


YouTube: Rep. Marcy Kaptur on the "Wall Street Bailout" Reccomended

Reuters: Chinese regulators have told domestic banks to stop interbank lending to U.S. financial institutions Uh oh.

LA Times: Fact checking the presidential debate

Tom the Dancing Bug: The Maverick

Tongodeon's pro-Obama advice

Salon.com article "How Karl Rove played politics while people drowned".

Lots of confirmation of stuff those of us who've kept a close eye things already knew, but some new details.

Favorite detail I didn't already know: Gov. Blanco personally gave President Bush a two-page letter detailing everything the state needed to cope with the disaster. Bush "lost" the letter. Ooopsie.

( Text mirror )

Some stuff on the web I found of interest:

5,200 year old potters wheel zoetrope animation


Harry Shearer: The Pulitzer for Getting Katrina Right is Yet to be Awarded

New edition of Frommer's Guide on New Orleans

Driftglass on the Democratic primary fight excerpt:
"God knows after eight years of Dubya and five years of Iraq no one should have to explain this to Senator Clinton, but the first test of real leadership is not just how well you fight the necessary and unavoidable battles, but how well you keep us the Hell out of stupid, unnecessary conflicts in the first place ... how much clearer does it have to be that the worst possible trait to have in a leader is a willingness – an eagerness! -- to fudge facts, gin up divisive brawls out of thin air and lob bombs to advance their personal political agendas and fortunes."

Headlines
* Not Enough Bush Administration Members Going to Prison: Scooter Libby

* Not Enough Congressmen Being Indicted: William Jefferson

Editorial
Thank you so #$%*! much, Harry Lee, for making sure $ Bill got re-elected.

And again, Harry, that little incident about blocking a bridge to keep people from escaping the largest disaster in the USA in 99 & 1/2 years? It isn't the people who say "I don't like that" who make you "look bad", it's the fact that YOU DID IT IN THE FIRST PLACE and defended the actions without apology later.

Yeah, getting $ Bill reelected sure helps keep this "part of the world" from looking bad, eh?

I wonder if this was simple political vindictiveness, or if Lee was really worried that having someone in congress who had questioned his actions might have led to serious trouble for himself? Did Lee know that his actions were legally undefensible if there was any serious challenge?

Other News
* Gone but not forgotten New Orleans landmark the ING 4727 Barge to be breifly discussed in court before Bush crony billionaire owner gets all charges dismissed. Testimony Begins in Barge Case

Former FEMA hack Michael D. "Heck of a job" Brown reveals yet more dirt that many suspected: A chance to screw over Democrats was a higher priority in Bushco's Katrina response than was saving American lives. Brown: Party politics played role in Katrina response. Nice to have this on the record, but as I've said before, sorry Brownie, you still don't get to pull your reputation out of the toilet, because you went along with this when it was actually killing your countrymen.

Speaking of people who failed to stand up to BushCo when it mattered most, Bob Harris argues that Hillary's full support for Bush's invasion of Iraq makes her unelectable.

In local news, as a non sports fan, I have to say: Go Saints! Go capture that supurb owl, or whatever it is you do. Rah.

Louisiana's representatives in Washington have been busy nutria lately.

Dollar Bill Jefferson's adventures have made national news. He says he has "an honorable explanation" for how 90 k in marked bills intended to bribe the VP of Nigeria wound up in his freezer, but his lawyers have advised him to keep the story under wraps for the time being. I so hope we get to hear the honorable explanation; I bet it's a ripping good yarn. In the mean time, his fellow Dems are throwing him off Ways & Means; it seems that the "I havn't even been indicted yet, much less convicted" excuse doesn't necessarily fly on their side of the aisle. Not with an election coming up, anyhow.

Meanwhile David Vitter knows where his priorities are, proclaiming "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one." He was talking about... outlawing Gay Marriage. (Which is already illegal in Louisiana. But with thousands homeless, cities in ruins, and 1/5 of the state in danger of washing out to sea, our first priority must be to make gay marriage even illegaler!) I didn't think he could top last August when he introduced a bill to encourage harvesting what's left of Louisiana's barrier wetlands to be turned into mulch while Katrina was barreling towards us in the Gulf. It just goes to show it doesn't pay to underestimate Critter Vitter.

On the national scene:

"The war in Iraq has become so unpopular that it could cost Republicans control of Congress, statehouses and governor races around the country, national pollster John Zogby said Friday. He said 70% of voters believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, adding, “I have never seen a number like that since I’ve been polling.” [...] But he cautioned: “The Democrats have no program on any issue, they have nothing to say that matters to anyone in the United States today.” " (via Detroit Free Press)

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Toons

It's good to see that the Suspect Device cartoons run by Gambit Weekly are on line again.

Jefferson's Fridge

Vitter's strategy

And one from a couple months ago that I would have linked to at the time if I'd been able to find it on line:
6 months from Katrina in the illustrations of John Tenniel

Extra! Extra!

CNN reports that the ghost of Al Smith has just conceeded the 1928 Presidental Election.


Smith